Wheels of Success kicks off Christmas car giveaway program

St. Petersburg, Florida -- Several lucky families are receiving early Christmas presents courtesy of the "Wheels of Success" program. The charity kicked off its "13 Cars of Christmas" program by awarding families with a car.

Lawrence and Becky Hyden have been without a car for over a year, but all of that changed today as the couple was rewarded with the keys to a car.

"It's awesome, it's a beautiful vehicle and I'm not here for any handouts. If I had never gotten a vehicle, I would have been walking today," said Lawrence Hyden.

Today they got a new set of wheels, making life a lot simpler.

"Now we can do things as a family, we can take the kids to their friend's houses or go to the park, go to the zoo go grocery shopping, doctors appointments without walking or busing it," said Becky Hyden.

The couple received their car from the Wheels of Success program, which helps struggling families.

"This is a community effort ... we couldn't do this without car donations, without money to fix the cars, without people to help us, all the volunteers who make this possible," said Susan Jacobs of the Wheels of Success program.

One of those volunteers is Autoway Ford, which partnered with Wheels of Success, servicing the car for the Hydens.

"Once we found out the family actually walked here today, it was even more touching. We had already been focusing on this and realize this hasn't been the easiest year for families, and our family and this was a way to give back to the community," said Andrew Dunton of Autoway Ford.

Giving back to the community is what it's all about this holiday season.

The Wheels of Success has given out over 280 vehicles since its inception in 2003. To learn more about the program, visit www.wheelsofsuccess.org